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La Plaza; Conversations with Ilan Stavans: Richard Montoya

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Premiered January 10, 1979- Officially La Plaza as a separate series title ended after season 28 (2006). It was replaced by the interview series: Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One which premiered in 2007.

Producer Raquel Ortiz anticipates that the bilingual series will serve as a plaza for the entire local Latino community. Ortiz also served as the host during the first season along with guest hosts. The program format varied from week to week, between musical specials, documentaries, in-studio debates, both locally produced and acquired. Spanish language programs were subtitled in English and English language programs were captioned in Spanish.

See January 1979 Prime Time Program Guide for cover story.
Series release date: 1/10/1979

Program Description

Richard Montoya is a founding member of Culture Clash, a Latino/Chicano comic theater group that started in San Francisco in 1984. Culture Clash gained a place in the national spotlight with the 1988 play, The Mission. Originally a six-man troupe, Culture Clash currently comprises Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza.

Culture Clash claims Charlie Chaplin, Bertolt Brecht, Cantinflas, and the Marx brothers as influences for their blend of social and political satire.

Although Culture Clash has HBO and PBS specials under their belt, as well as movie and network deals, their first love remains the theater. They have performed at prominent venues including New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Miami's Colony Theatre, and Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum.

Montoya talks with critic Ilan Stavans about Culture Clash's television specials and comedy series; their movies and short films; their artwork and visual style; and most recently, the publication of their collected works, Culture Clash: Life, Death, and Revolutionary Comedy (1998) and Culture Clash in AmeriCCa: Four Plays (2003).